Vocals, Male

Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington – Francis A. & Edward K.

More of the Music of Frank Sinatra

More of the Music of Duke Ellington

  • Superb Double Plus (A++) grades bring this wonderful collaboration to life on this original Reprise stereo pressing – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Sinatra is both natural and present – he actually sounds like he is standing on the same stage as Ellington’s band, and maybe he is!
  • The highs are extended and silky sweet, the bass is tight and punchy – this copy gives you more life and energy than most by a long shot
  • “Recorded on Sinatra’s birthday in 1967, this collaboration between America’s most popular singing icon and pre-eminent jazz composer still endures as one of Sinatra’s most enjoyable Reprise-era albums.” – Amazon

Recorded one year after the remarkable Sinatra-Jobim record that we treasure here at Better Records, Sinatra takes the opportunity to work with one of the greatest bandleaders in the history of jazz, the Duke himself. We had good luck with the stereo originals on the lovely Blue and Green Reprise labels — they can be as big, rich and warm as Sinatra’s legendary Capitol recordings when you find the right pressing, and that’s really saying something.

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Frank Sinatra – Strangers In The Night

More of the Music of Frank Sinatra

  • Boasting two solid Double Plus (A++) sides, this vintage Reprise pressing is doing just about everything right – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • This Sinatra title surprised us with its Demo Disc sound – on the blog, it’s one of the records we “discovered” with audiophile quality sound, because who knew the album could sound this good but us?
  • Clearly one of the better sounding Reprise-era Sinatra albums we have ever played
  • Credit must be given to the extraordinarily inventive arrangements of Nelson Riddle and the Tubey Magical engineering of Lee Herschberg
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • “Sinatra’s singing is relaxed, confident, and surprisingly jazzy, as he plays with the melody of ‘The Most Beautiful Girl in the World’ and delivers a knockout punch with the assured, breathtaking ‘Summer Wind.'”

We cannot recommend this pressing highly enough. If you want to know what the best sounding Sinatra records sound like, this is your chance. Folks, in my opinion it simply does not get any better than a killer White Hot Stamper of Strangers In The Night.

These originals are the only way to go for ’60s Sinatra, but finding them in good shape on quiet vinyl is no picnic and only a few of them actually sound the way we want them to. It’s a real treat to be in the presence of the Chairman Of The Board, in his prime, working his magic — but only an exceptional copy like this one has the power to put him right in the room with you.

What to Listen For

The Tubey Magic has to be heard to be believed. I cannot recall hearing a richer, smoother, tubier Frank Sinatra album in all my born days.

Weighty brass is key to the sound of more than just the horn section. Any leanness or thinness in the brass is instantly heard as Sinatra without weight and richness to his voice. This is the instantly recognizable sound of most reissues, the main reason we stopped buying them years ago. Having played so many amazing original stereo pressings for our shootouts over the years we don’t think that will change anytime soon. There simply is no substitute for a clean stereo pressing on the original label.

Full, Rich, Breathy, Present vocals are obviously critically important as well. This copy delivers some of the best we heard.

On this copy the orchestra and band are putting out plenty of low end, reaching down well into whomp land. It’s a thrill to hear to hear that sound on these swinging arrangements coming out of my speakers.

And of course the copies that are rich and tubey but also big, clear and open did the best in our shootout. (more…)

Harry Belafonte / Sings The Blues

 More Living Stereo Recordings

  • Here is a vintage pressing of Sings the Blues with seriously good Double Plus (A++) grades from top to bottom
  • So hugely spacious and three-dimensional, yet with a tonally correct and natural sounding Harry, this is the way to hear it
  • Lively, balanced and vibrant, with a healthy dose of the Tubey Magical Living Stereo richness these recordings need to sound the way they should
  • This is yet another title that has taken us more than ten years to do and believe us when we tell you they usually don’t come as quiet as this
  • “Belafonte nails every song on the album … his version of ‘Cotton Fields’ is as good as there is and his ‘God Bless the Child’ is outstanding”

If you’re looking to demonstrate just how good 1958 All Tube Analog sound can be, this killer copy may be just the record for you.

Naturally the vocals have to be the main focus on a Harry Belafonte record. He should sound rich and tubey, yet clear, breathy and transparent.

To qualify as a Hot Stamper the pressings we offer must be highly resolving, not crude and ambience-challenged the way so many modern LPs seem to be.

You should be able to hear every element of the recording, with the voice and instruments surrounded by the natural space of the studios in which the recording was made.

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Frank Sinatra – Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

More of the Music of Frank Sinatra

  • With outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it from start to finish, this vintage stereo pressing of Sinatra and Jobim’s sublime collaboration will be very hard to beat
  • A Must Own for Sinatra fans, but one that has a marked tendency to be noisy, as many of the owners of the album loved it and played it to death, but no such problems here
  • The presence and three-dimensional space of the recording have the power to transport the Chairman of the Board and his Brazilian buddy right into your listening room (particularly on side two)
  • This is a magical album from start to finish, one of a handful of a Must Own Sinatra releases, and my personal favorite of all his recordings
  • 4 1/2 stars: “After a few plays, the album begins to slowly work its way underneath a listener’s skin, and it emerges as one of his most rewarding albums of the ’60s.”
  • We’ve recently compiled a list of records we think every audiophile/music-lover should get to know better, along the lines of “the 1001 records you need to hear before you die,” with less of an accent on morbidity and more on the joy these amazing audiophile-quality recordings can bring to your life. This is a good example of a record audiophiles should make an effort to get to know better

This is, in our opinion, one of the two best sounding Sinatra album on Reprise (the other being September of My Years from 1965). The recording is so rich, sweet, and Tubey Magical, you would think it was prime Capitol-period Sinatra — but it’s not, obviously; it just sounds that way.

If you like romantic music, you will be hard-pressed to find a better album than this one. The song “Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars” perfectly encapsulates the mood of this album. My favorite track here is “Dindi.” Sinatra is the king of lost loves, and the song “Dindi” offers him another opportunity for regret. Nobody does it better than Frank. It’s a cliche to say he wears his heart on his sleeve, but the man made a career out of it. If the cliche fits…

Whatever you do, don’t waste your money on Kevin Gray’s mediocre cutting of the album. I gave it a C- years ago for sound, but these days I suspect it might get an F. A lot of his stuff does.

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Frank Sinatra – That’s Life

More of the Music of Frank Sinatra

  • Here is an early Reprise stereo pressing (one of only a handful of copies to hit the site in four years) with superb Double Plus (A++) sound from first note to last
  • Remarkably big, rich and Tubey Magical, with especially breathy, present vocals that put Frank Sinatra front and center in your listening room
  • “Following the across-the-board success of Strangers in the Night, That’s Life continued Frank Sinatra’s streak of commercially successful albums that straddled the line between traditional and contemporary pop music. Adding more pop music techniques to his repertoire of show tunes, That’s Life made contemporary pop concessions while satisfying Sinatra’s own taste for weightier, more respected material.”

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Nat “King” Cole – The Nat King Cole Story

More Pop and Jazz Vocal Recordings

  • The Nat King Cole Story debuts on the site with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound on FIVE of the six sides of these vintage Stereo Capitol pressings, and solid Double Plus (A++) sound on the sixth
  • Here is the sound we love at Better Records – full-bodied and Tubey Magical, with especially smooth, present vocals
  • Turn down the lights, gently drop the needle at the start of side one and you will soon find a living breathing Nat “King” Cole standing right in front of you
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – “Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup” is pretty much ruined here – but if you can live without that song, this copy is going to blow your mind
  • 4 stars: “The 36 selections mostly focus on his pop successes of the 1950s, although there are a few wistful looks back at his trio days. [T]he remakes…find Cole in peak form and comprise a highly enjoyable retrospective of his vocal career.” -AllMusic

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Nat “King” Cole – The Nat King Cole Story, Vol. 2

More Pop and Jazz Vocal Recordings

  • The Nat King Cole Story, Vol. 2 debuts on the site with solid Double Plus (A++) grades from first note to last
  • Here is the sound we love at Better Records – full-bodied and Tubey Magical, with especially smooth, present vocals
  • Turn down the lights, gently drop the needle at the start of side one and you will soon find a living breathing Nat “King” Cole standing right in front of you
  • He may be accompanied by some surface noise, however — 50s and 60s Nat King Cole records can rarely be found in audiophile playing condition, which is quite an understatement as most pressings from this series are scratched and beat to death by their previous owners, who, for some reason, could not get enough of the man’s music!

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Frank Sinatra – Ring-A-Ding Ding!

More of the Music of Frank Sinatra

  • Ring-A-Ding Ding! makes its Hot Stamper debut with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout this early Reprise Tri-Color label pressing
  • Exceptionally spacious and three-dimensional, as well as relaxed and full-bodied – Frank is right in the room with you on this one
  • The sound here is rich, warm and smooth, with Vintage Analog Tubey Magic to die for
  • “…it set a kind of template for the rest of his ’60s Reprise albums. Instead of following a theme, the record captures the atmosphere of Sinatra in 1961.”

Having done this for so long, we understand and appreciate that rich, full, solid, Tubey Magical sound is key to the presentation of this primarily vocal music. We rate these qualities higher than others we might be listening for (e.g., bass definition, soundstage, depth, etc.). The music is not so much about the details in the recording, but rather in trying to recreate a solid, palpable, real Frank Sinatra singing live in your listening room. The best copies have an uncanny way of doing just that.

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Mel Torme – My Kind of Music

More Pop and Jazz Vocal Recordings

  • Here is an original Stereo Verve pressing (and only the second copy to ever hit the site) with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from start to finish
  • Remarkably spacious and three-dimensional, as well as relaxed and full-bodied – the Velvet Fog is right in the room with you on this one
  • The reproduction of Torme’s voice is exactly what you would expect from a Hot Stamper – he sounds rich, smooth, tonally correct and above all real
  • “The mellow arrangements…wrapped Tormé in soft strings, but also allowed for many individual voices, including guitar and trumpet. It’s a style of arranging that perfectly suited Tormé’s growing inclination toward breezy, contemplative adult-pop during the 60s.”

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Frank Sinatra – Come Fly With Me

More Frank Sinatra

  • Come Fly With Me touches down on the site for the first time ever, here with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades on both sides of this 60s Stereo Capitol pressing
  • This copy was doing everything we wanted it to — and on both sides — with an abundance of energy and the kind of immediacy that can put Frank Sinatra front and center right in your very own listening room
  • We all owe a debt of gratitude to the recording and mastering engineers from the era (50s and 60s) for the glorious sound they managed to achieve, a sound unequalled to this day
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • 5 stars: “There may be greater albums in Sinatra’s catalog, but few are quite as fun as Come Fly With Me.”

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